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Translator: M.S
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: One Sip
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God, what terrible actors.

“Draw your sword.”

I told you to just pretend to fight.

They’re already here, see?

“There he is…!”

“Three of them were taken down?!”

“Help Lansen! We have to hold him here!”

Two more hooded figures were running toward us from behind.

This time, it was the group that had gone to search the west.

The killing intent was prickly.

*Shing!*

The sound of a blade slicing through the air. The sharp edge, unique to ancient Aura, sent a chill down my spine.

I held the woman’s blue-eyed gaze until the last moment, then turned my back.

*Claaang!*

*Squelch!*

“Gack!”

“Guh…!”

One I slashed, the other I stabbed.

They reflexively raised their swords to block my attack, but their Aura was even weaker than the woman’s.

Shattered pieces of their blades glinted as they fell.

My blade was chipped again.

It’s ridiculous.

Pathetically weak, yet absurdly sharp.

“Gurgle…”

“Ugh… You… betrayed…”

Their throats slashed and lungs pierced, the two men died, clawing at the floor without so much as a scream.

“Even if they were low-level… to take down Experts so easily?”

She seemed quite surprised.

The woman glanced back and forth between my sword and the fallen men.

“Could it be… are you truly a Sword Master? But for that to be the case…”

She was confused.

Who knows.

I *was* a Sword Master.

By the standards of ten thousand years from now.

I took out a cloth and wiped the blood from my blade.

I ignored her question and asked one of my own.

“The kids are being held here?”

“You should know that better than anyone, shouldn’t you?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“How could you possibly not know…”

“Believe me. It’s the truth.”

“How can I, with just a few words…”

“You’ll have to. It hasn’t been too difficult so far, but…”

*Shhhk.*

I raised my sword.

My back was to her, facing the far end of the torchlit corridor.

“I can’t quite get a read on that one. I’d like you to help.”

*Thud.*

A shadow-like figure shot up from the end of the corridor.

A man with a black robe pulled low over his face.

He was the leader of the cultists.

‘I wanted to launch a surprise attack if possible…’

But it seemed I was already discovered, so there was no helping it.

The leader’s low, rough voice echoed down the hall.

“So, Lansen. You’ve betrayed us?”

*Thud, thud.*

He glanced at the corpses of his subordinates sprawled on the floor.

He showed no sense of alarm, only a calm and leisurely demeanor.

“It’s not so bad. Five resentful spirits, dead from a bitter betrayal. Add to that the chaotic nature of betrayal itself. And the soul of a noble knight as well… The Lord will be even more pleased.”

As he spoke, the leader’s eyes gleamed with fanaticism.

*Shudder.*

A chill ran down my spine for no reason.

What is this?

Looking at his Aura alone, he barely had the presence of a mid-level Expert… yet some strange, ominous energy kept licking at my cheek.

Why did this feel so unsettling?

I wasn’t the only one who sensed the ominous feeling from him.

“A high-level Expert… Why is someone of his caliber in a place like this…”

The woman’s low mutter was choked with tension.

A high-level Expert. I shoved that term into my mind.

‘The ones I just fought were low-level Experts by this era’s standards, right? High-level must be pretty strong, but…’

Still, is it enough to make me this tense? If this era’s low-level is at that standard, then the high-level shouldn’t be a big deal either…

But this was deeply uncomfortable.

‘He’s clearly a person… but he doesn’t feel like one.’

He was more like a single sword.

The sound, the smell, the movement.

I felt a faint sense of dissonance in all of it.

It was as if the wind itself was being sliced in his wake as he walked.

Is this what it would feel like if a sword were given human form?

My instincts were wary of this man.

‘If I break it down, there’s no reason for me to be at a disadvantage.’

And yet, I was reluctant to make the first move.

It felt like sticking my head into the den of some unknown beast.

I glanced back at the woman behind me.

“Are you just going to stand there and watch?”

“…You want me to attack first? …Are you planning to strike me from behind?”

“We have to save the kids. Can you beat him without my help?”

“…Damn it. I should have requested backup before coming…”

The woman seemed conflicted, but she eventually stepped forward.

“I am a mid-level Expert. …I can’t do this alone.”

“Go. I’ll back you up.”

“…I’ll trust you.”

*Thump!*

The woman kicked off the ground, as light as a feather.

*Clang! Clack! Clang!*

Shimmering ancient Auras clashed repeatedly in the air.

The woman was clearly being pushed back.

She twisted her sword with all her might to deflect the leader’s attacks, but her blade was being whittled away like a pencil nonetheless.

There was a huge difference in the sharpness of their Auras.

I studied the enemy carefully.

In the meantime, the woman was getting thoroughly beaten.

*Crack!*

A single kick from the leader caved in her breastplate, and,

*Thwack!*

a strike from his pommel split the skin above her eye, spattering blood.

“Ugh! What are you doing? Help me!”

The woman desperately called out to me as she frantically blocked his attacks.

But I didn’t answer, continuing to observe in silence.

‘His strength is similar to mine, and his speed is a little faster?’

There were no surprises.

The leader, a so-called high-level Expert, had the martial prowess of a mid-level Expert from my time.

He didn’t seem to be a mage either.

But there was something that bothered me.

‘I can’t predict the path of his sword.’

Perhaps because his swordsmanship was completely different from what I knew, it was difficult to read his attack timing and trajectory.

It was amazing that the woman was managing to block it all and hold on.

‘…Right. I need to be careful. Eliminate all variables and end this in a single blow.’

Meanwhile, the woman was growing more and more desperate.

“Now! If you’d attacked just now!”

“So it really was a betrayal?!”

“Hey!!!”

She was in tatters in an instant.

Her once-shining blonde hair was a matted mess, like a dog that hadn’t been washed in three months, and her armor was slashed and torn to pieces.

“What are you doing?!!”

The moment the formal speech she had so stubbornly maintained vanished and she let out a scream, I finally saw my opponent’s opening.

*Vwoooom—!*

A deep blue Aura bloomed from beneath my feet, rising up over my shoulders.

[Tempest], the signature charge of the Vanroah royal family.

Leaning forward as if to fall, I convert all my energy into propulsive force.

The condensed Aura not only strengthens my calves and thighs but also erupts from the soles of my feet.

A stream of Aura wraps around the surface of my skin, pushing the wind’s resistance aside.

*Craaaash—!*

A charge that surpassed the limits of a mid-level Expert.

Dust billowed from the shattered granite floor.

The expelled Aura and displaced air left a storm in my wake.

The moment I took a single step, I was right in front of the enemy.

Even the woman who had been screaming for help failed to perceive my movement.

A single step that split a fraction of a second.

*Crunch!*

Stomping on the ground once more, I wrapped this formidable speed around the tip of my sword.

‘This is the end!’

An enemy that gave me an inexplicable sense of dread.

For that reason, I gave it my all, perhaps to an excessive degree.

This had to work.

I firmly believed it.

*Flash!*

*Craaaang!*

Until a sudden burst of light erupted before my eyes, swallowing the entire corridor.

‘What, what the…!’

An extreme pain shot up from my hand.

It wasn’t the smooth sensation of cutting an opponent.

Something had struck the tip of my sword.

The shock spread from my hand, making my entire body tingle.

I hastily retreated.

My vision, momentarily lost to the blinding light, slowly returned.

Beside me was the woman, who had retreated in surprise, and in front of me stood the man, his hood now off, a frown on his face.

*Sizzzle—!*

White smoke billowed from his necklace.

He touched the hot necklace lightly and let out a dry laugh.

“Ha? Was I just about to die?”

What is that necklace?

An artifact?

The woman let out a groan.

“Ugh…! A Necklace of Protection!”

No, even for an artifact from the age of magic, how could it block a Sword Aura so easily…?

But I had no time to be surprised.

*Schwing!*

*Shwick!*

*Clack!*

Because the man, his face twisted like a demon’s, had begun a true sword dance.

‘What? What’s going on?’

The man’s sword looked no different from his subordinates’ blades.

Just a transparent haze that distorted the air.

But clashing with it was a completely different story.

*Clang!*

*Schink!*

‘At this rate… my sword is going to break.’

This time, it wasn't just getting chipped.

The leader’s sword withstood my Aura Sword; in fact, it was biting deep into my own blade.

I had to focus my Aura on the point of impact just to endure it.

*Clang!*

*Craaang!*

Unable to stop his momentum, I was forced to retreat again and again.

‘This is dangerous…’

The woman shrieked.

“What are you doing! Your Sword Ki is colored, so why are you so weak!”

Look… I don’t think the thing you call Sword Ki and what I call Sword Aura are the same thing at all…?

Can’t you tell by looking?

The transparent haze is Sword Ki.

The color imbuing the sword is Sword Aura.

Huh?

The man sneered.

“Can’t you tell? He’s a fraud. What does it matter if his Sword Ki is colored? He’s a half-baked swordsman who can’t even read the heart of the sword.”

I had been through hell and back serving under Count Ksias.

I had even become a Sword Master, known as a strategic weapon.

And yet… a fraud, a half-baked swordsman…

I wanted to argue, but the reality was my pathetic form, stumbling backward.

‘What kind of swordsmanship is this…’

It wasn’t just the sharp energy that cut through Aura.

The man’s sword was uncanny.

Yes, uncanny.

There was no other way to describe it.

A single swing seemed to gain three or four advantages, as if he could see dozens of moves ahead.

He was continuously pulling off masterstrokes you’d be lucky to see once or twice in a lifetime.

My feet were tangled before we had even exchanged ten blows.

My prosthetic arm and leg felt clumsy.

My back was soaked in a cold sweat.

‘That woman… how did she hold out for so long…?!’

I swung my sword fiercely, but the end was steadily approaching.

“Ugh…!”

The wound Nagi had given me during the day throbbed, and my whole body ached from overexerting my Aura.

*Flick! Pssht!*

I tried to dodge, but the man’s sword reached out with cunning precision, and the number of my wounds grew. The drops of blood spraying into the air belonged to both me and the woman.

‘…He’s too strong.’

I can’t win like this.

“Farewell, Lansen.”

A sneer touched the man’s lips.

Despair settled on the woman’s face.

Alright. I’ve made up my mind.

You called me a fraud?

“Then let’s see if this is a fraud, too. Try and take this…!”

*Grit.*

I can’t win without putting my life on the line.

*Vwooooom—!*

I grit my teeth.

I squeeze my cracked Aura Core.

*Tsssss—!*

The deeply colored blue Aura rose beyond the blade.

Aura Threads, drawn out like strands of silk.

The last flame I, broken as I was, could kindle by betting my life.

*Crack!*

*Craaackle!*

The cracks in my core widened, and a terrible, sharp pain wracked my body.

A grim price would await me after this, but for a short while, I could regain a fraction of my former power.

‘I just have to win. If I win and get the Elixir…! It’ll be fine!’

There was no turning back now.

Ignoring the pain, I kicked off the ground with the Aura overflowing my body.

*Craaaaaang!*

“Ugh…! You?!”

A look of bewilderment crossed the face of the man who had been toying with me just moments before.

*Craaaaaang!*

*Clang!*

Somehow, even when I struck with a top-tier Sword Aura, the energy imbued in the man’s blade wouldn’t break.

No, if anything, it was still my blade that was chipping.

It was so sharp that it managed to cut through even a superior Aura.

‘This damn ancient swordsmanship…!’

Fortunately, I had the clear advantage in strength.

With every clash of our blades, the man staggered backward.

He couldn’t react in time to my power and speed.

“How…! How is this possible?! You’re clearly a half-baked swordsman who can’t even read the heart of the sword, so how do you have this much power!”

The man’s face grew paler.

The heart of the sword?

I don’t know what that is.

But this is the sword of the future!

*Shhhk!*

As the man frantically parried my sword, the web-like Aura Threads grazed his forearm and chest.

This was why top-level Experts were classified as an unconventional force.

You could block the blade, but you couldn’t block the branching Aura Threads.

And yet,

*Ting! T-ting!*

‘…It’s not cutting?’

His chest and forearm, where the Aura Threads had passed, were unharmed.

A faint light emanated from the black armor the man wore. It seemed this wasn’t ordinary armor either.

‘This goddamn age of magic. What kind of armor can block Aura Threads…’

I was out of time.

The light of my Aura was fading.

It was about to shatter.

My Aura Core.

So,

‘I’ll bet everything on this one strike.’

I summoned my last ounce of energy and unleashed a long slash from left to right.

The straight blade and the whip-like Aura Threads simultaneously aimed for the man’s neck.

*Craang!*

*Squelch!*

My sword broke in two and went spinning through the air.

“Guh…”

The leader’s sword trembled to a halt right next to my neck.

It couldn’t advance any further.

My sword may have been broken, but my Aura had found its mark.

The gracefully arcing Aura Threads had cleanly sliced off the man’s head at the neck.

‘Hoo…’

I let out a sigh of relief.

I never imagined my sword would break even after I’d poured so much Aura into it.

‘I’m so sick of this. How can it be so sharp…?’

Sighing, I looked down at the dying leader.

“Gurgle… uh…”

His death rattle was nothing more than the sound of air escaping.

Unable to contain the gushing blood, he slowly sank to the floor, submerged in a growing pool of it.

And then,

*Crack!*

My Aura Core completely shattered.

“Uuugh…”

I felt like I was going to throw up and collapsed to my knees.

*Fsss…*

Along with the unpleasant sensation of my Aura Core disintegrating, the strength drained from my entire body.

‘I might actually die from this…’

This was bad.

A headache, nausea, and blood kept gushing from my mouth.

My vision was going dark.

Not yet…

At least after I get the kids out of Kushan City…

‘Please. Please be there.’

I crawled on my knees toward the dead man and searched his robes.

A small wooden box.

I opened it… and there it was!

A gray key and a finger-sized Elixir were inside!

“It’s here…!”

Right. It’s valuable, so of course he’d carry it on him!

He must have thought it would be safest by his side!

Yes! I knew I could count on you, leader!

I’m saved. I’m saved!

With trembling hands, I quickly uncorked the vial and tipped the Elixir into my mouth.

If I don’t drink this now, I’ll die. I’ll definitely die.

*Gulp.*

Just as I managed to swallow a mouthful of the Elixir,

“Who in the world are you…?”

the woman asked.

At the same time,

*Clatter!*

The Elixir I was drinking fell to the floor and rolled away.

It was still about half full.

“Huh? Wh-what?”

The woman, looking around in confusion, grew more and more distant.

*Tick, tock, tick, tock.*

The sound of a clock’s second hand filled the space around me.

The river of time swept me up,

and once again, I deviated from the timeline, sucked away to somewhere unknown.

My mind went blank.

* * *

*Thump!*

*Thud!*

Lansen’s body suddenly appeared as if dropped from the air.

*Clang—*

A metal-bound book fell beside him.

Just then, the children spotted him.

“Teacher!”

“It’s Teacher!”

The children flocked to him like a gaggle of baby chicks.

They tried shaking Lansen, but there was no response. His mouth was wet with blood.

“What do we do? What do we do?!”

“Quick, go get Seklan!”

The children were in a panic.

Lying among them, as if dead, was Lansen.

Clutched tightly in his hand was a small wooden box.

What do you think?